


The Case

by NickyHopps



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-15
Updated: 2016-07-15
Packaged: 2018-07-24 04:28:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7493823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NickyHopps/pseuds/NickyHopps





	The Case

Judy and Nick were called into Chief Bogo’s Office. A large Case file sitting on his desk. Judy climbs on top of bogos desk. Nick resigns in a chair. “Hopps, Wilde” he gestured to the file. “This is the big one.. “Sure thing, Uh.. Exactly how dangerous are we talking about?” she gives a concerned smirk. Bogo slides the case file over to Judy. She skimmed through the case file and saw deeply disturbing images of Rundown slums, something you would only ever see on tv. Bloody body bags like it was from a video game. Judy cupped her mouth with her paw and looked away, “..Wha-wha-what is this??” She gagged, holding back her stomach contents resistant to look back. Judy didn’t have much of a strong stomach, especially when it came to bloody crime scenes. Nick was more naturalized to this kind of thing with his years on the street.  
“Let me see that. It can’t be that bad I mean come on!” He chuckled nervously. Nick reached over and yanked the file from Judy and had his attitude was completely reversed. “..You want her to handle this?!” the ferocity in his voice can be heard along with the expression on his face. Judy looked at nick not believing that nick was acting like that because of her, his motto was always “never let ‘em see that they got to you” But whenever it involved Judy, it was clear that things got to him. It made her wonder. Wonder what he really felt for her. “Nick..” Judy began to speak in a low tone hoping to get him calm before he did something rash as he was really unpredictable when he was angry. Nick stood up with such force his chair flew back and banged a close wall, he slammed a photo down on Bogos desk before she could continue with her sentence. the picture was of a dead fox, mangled, and barely recognizable through all the blood gashes along its face and body.  
“This is why you didn’t want me to have the case? Think I would want to enact some type of vendetta?” Nick began to growl angrily at Bogo for assigning this case to them but mainly for pushing it on Judy, Bogo knows she doesn’t do very well with these types of cases. Nick slowly moved towards the door, with his paw on the door he turns and asks. “How long does she have?”

Chief Bogo not happy at Nicks reaction but understanding of it said with a stern voice, like he was a sergeant giving his team an order not with sympathy. but with trust. “72 hours, a case this extreme needs our best but needs to be solved. And judging by the fact that you found 14 missing animals, Debunked a conspiracy, AND saved the lives of countless innocent predators. I believe you two can do this.” Judy watched as Nick left the office, then back to Bogo with a concerned look on her face. “I’m going to go talk to him.” She hopped off her chair, and followed Nick. She found him against a wall, and slowly approached him. “Nick? Are you alright?”

“Aren’t you a little worried, Like at all about this case?” Nick was furious, He had felt obligated to go with her on the mission but couldn’t bring himself to. “You can’t go,” he murmured, looking away from her.

“I am! But if this is the case Bogo assigned us, we have to take it,” she tried to reason with him, stepping closer to the fox. “Look, I don’t like this either. But I can’t do this without you.”

“You’ll end up like that fox.” Nick raised his voice, bearing his teeth and tightening his fists. “You aren’t going. Understand me?” He looked at the bunny. His eyes fixed on hers. Nick wanted to say more but couldnt find the words. Why was he feeling this overwhelming need to protect this bunny? Why did her safety mean everything to him?

Judy was surprised by how angry Nick was about this case. She’d never seen him so adamant about anything before. “Nick, you can’t just keep me here, and you’re not going by yourself! You can’t stop me from coming,” she said sternly.

Nick waved his paw, dismissing what she had said he began walking towards the front exit. “..If you come with me and you get hurt. I’m never going to forgive myself.” He mumbled, hoping she wouldn’t hear.

Judy followed Nick closely, not leaving his side. She definitely heard his whisper, thanks to her extremely superb hearing. She caught his wrist, stopping him in his tracks. “Nick, you’re not responsible for me. If something does happen, which it won’t, but if it does, it won’t be your fault,” she assured him. “I’m going with you, Okay?”

Nick froze. “…” he looked straight ahead, trying to avoid seeing her. “Not a chance.” Nick pulled his wrist away from her and shoved his paws into his pockets and exited the ZPD building.Judy sat at the police station. Unsure of where to go, and what to do. Nick had walked out more than an hour ago, no trace, no words, and no location. She could not use ZPD resources as this was a personal matter. The station was quiet tonight. Few officers walked the halls with criminals in shackles. Clawhauser looked at Judy, feeling bad for her.  
“What is the matter Judy?” Clawhauser asked. His voice a wreck with concern about her. Judy looked up, and walked over to Clawhauser’s front desk. Her ears hung low behind her back her eyes glazed over at her lack of options. “Nick is angry, and I have no way to find out where he is.“ she said spinning around, and slumping against the front desk. Her head pushing away a pink box of half eaten donuts that covered the front counter.  
“I don’t know what to tell you, my favorite officer” Clawhauser said. Judy, oblivious to his attempts to make her happy. “Does he have any friends he would…”  
“FINNICK!” She said, cutting off Clawhauser. Judy jumped up, giving Clawhauser a hug before running outside.  
“Glad I could be of service, Judy” he said, waving goodbye as Judy charged out the building.  
Judy pulls out her ICarrot phone and dials Finnick’s number. He never officially ‘gave’ her his number, but nick left his phone unguarded so it was his own fault. The phone rang a few times before an answer.“Who is this?” Finnick said not saying his own name, but Judy recognized the voice. “Oh my carrots thank you for picking up” Judy said. Glee in her voice  
“Wait… Hippity hop? How did you get my… nick’s phone?” he said, not taking long to put the pieces together. “Yes” she said with a quickness to her voice. “Please, do you know where nick is?” Judy is almost bouncing in place, and hoped for the answer she wanted. “Yeah, he wanted me to come pick him up.” Finnick exclaimed a slight question to his voice. “Why, aren’t you with him?” he asked. Judy only wished she was. “No, but please you have to tell me where he asked you to pick him up” she said, her voice quickening, and almost ready to beg  
“Uhh, sure. He said that he was 4 blocks away from the ZPD. The Lionheart Park.” Finnick said. Judy chuckled, Lionheart was still in prison,and they have not decided if they wanted to change to the name of the park yet. Someone had actually wanted to change it to Hopps Park, but Judy refused unless it was Hopps and Wilde Park. She wasn’t the only one who cleared the case, and nick deserved his due to. “Thanks Finnick, I owe you one” she said about to hang up the phone. “Well, now that you mention it…” Finnick began before Judy hung up the phone. She would deal with his requests later. She had a fox to hunt.

She took the straight path through the park from the north end. The park was a giant rectangle cut into 4 sections. It had 2 walkways which intersected in the middle. From above it looked like a cross. The only light in the park at night was the single street lamp that rested in the center of the grand fountain. It was a basic 3 leveled fountain with a stream going down each side. Basic etchings of flowers, and trees carved into the stone it was built of. “Oh, nick. Where are you?” She said with increasing worry. She had hoped he had not gotten wise and decided to leave.  
Nick was sitting on the park bench which was near the eastern entrance. He was looking up, examining the faint stars, but sadly the city lights diminished their brightness. “I should go back to her” He thought. Truthfully, he didn’t know what to think anymore. This case, the danger, her. He shook his head like the physical force of his action would clear his mind. No such luck. Scratching the top of his head. “How can I make this right?” he looked down to his open paws in his lap, and closed, and opened them, as like doing the act would make him wake up from some dream state. The park was normally used for drug activity, so when he heard something, He looked to his left, but not to a drug deal, but to see a familiar bunny. He was both shocked and relieved. He was about to call out to her, but as he put his paw to his muzzle to say her name, some Thoughts dawned on him. Did he really want to cause her more pain than he already? Another question. How did Judy find him? Was it by luck or… or did she get Finnicks number somehow. Now that he thinks about it, he did think it was weird his phone was unlocked when he got out of the shower at the ZPD that one time. He just thought he left it unlocked as it was sitting at the home screen. “Huh” he said smirking “sly bunny.” He leaned over putting his elbows on his knees and his paws on his chin. His thoughts consuming him.  
Judy got to the center of the park, but it was hard to see with how dark it was. The one light in the center not helping her vision. She scanned all the entrances until she saw a dark figure on a park bench slumped over. Unsure of the figure she slowly walked over to it, as she got closed the figure, the over shadow clearing like a fog. It was nick. “NICK!” she screamed out in glee. She was closer to nick than she thought, so the sudden squeal made nick almost jump out of his fur. “C-Carrots!” He said, clutching his shirt. He pushed himself off the bench, and took Judy, pulling her into his chest giving a tight hug. “..I’m sorry I left so abruptly” he smiled. “Well, Hi to you to nick” She giggled, returning the hug with a smile. “I was worried for a little while. I thought I wasn’t going to find you” Judy tilted her head to the left “Why did you run off anyways?” She asked while letting go. “I just, I didn’t want to be there, that fox. Those citizens, I couldn’t look at it any longer. It reminded me of that, that one case. Where…” Nick started to choke up."I know, Nick. And I’ve told you this ever since that happened, it’s not your fault. Quit beating yourself up over it. I healed, and I’m perfectly fine now!” Judy said, reassuringly. Nick looked at the ground. He slightly smiled at her optimism. “Hey, Follow me” he whispered, taking Judy by the paw. He intertwined his paw with hers, and started walking towards the fountain in the center. Once at the fountain, nick let go of Judy’s hand, and jumped up to the fountain ledge, as it was taller then him by half his height. Nick laid over the edge of the fountain, and held out his paw for Judy to grab onto. Judy hopped up, and grabbed his hands. Nick dragged her up and onto the fountain ledge. They both sat down with feet hanging over the edge. Judy didn’t understand why he brought her up here, until he pointed. She didn’t realize how early it was, a sunrise was breaking through. The sky had become pink, like a sea of cotton candy, with the light of the sun coloring the clouds above with a pinkish hue. “Wow” Judy said. That being the only word she could use to describe the scenery in front of her. “Hey, Carrots” he turned his head slightly to his left, looking at his partner “I’m sorry.” He said looking back down, and sighing, he was about to hate the next words out of his mouth. “But you can’t come with me.” He said sternly, looking back up but this time, deep into her eyes. Judy sighed and stood up on the fountain. “Why do you care so much? Huh? You think I’m going to get hurt again, WHY? Because I’m a bunny? You know for a fact that, that doesn’t mean anything!” Judy stomped her foot in anger and crossed her arms. “I’m not just a Bunny nick, you know that!” Judy’s eyes began to water, she hated arguing with Nick, it hurt deep in her chest to use that mean tone towards him.  
Nick opened his eyes wide in exaggeration, and his eyes began to water along with hers. “It’s because I don’t want to make the same mistake!” He yelled, moving closer to her. “I’m so sorry that I don’t like seeing you hurt?” He was inches away from her “I know you’re not just a dumb bunny.” He grabbed her shoulders, and brought her in close. “But I do know one thing, that I need you to know” nick said. Judy’s nose began to twitch rapidly, and her foot started tapping. “I love you, Judy Hopps” he breathed, before locking his lips with hers, and his hand holding the back of her head. A heat took hold of the back of Judy’s neck. It moved down her arms and torso. Her legs went numb, as the ecstasy that was his kiss took its iron clad hold on her body. She couldn’t move, only stand there. At this point he could do anything to her, and she wouldn’t care. She was in bliss. Nicks lips released their grip from Judy’s. Those simple words. They meant more to her than life itself. She stood there on the fountain, her smile, the way she looked at nick afterward, signifying pure infatuation. “Nick, I’ve been waiting for that moment, ever since I met you..” She admitted, staring at the ground floor and rubbing her left arm with her right. She no longer thought of nick as her partner. She was his bunny, and he was her fox…After that day, Judy and Nick were inseparable. Nick would gloat lovingly to everyone, and Judy would respond with a bashful little sock to his arm.  
Nick had planned a day with Finnick, just to have a bit of a guy’s night with his old pal from the hustling business. Judy thought otherwise. She wanted to meet Finnick properly. After all, the only interaction they had was while looking for a sly fox.  
Finnick pulled up in front of the ZPD building, avoiding eye contact with the passing officers. He never liked cops much, but made an exception for Nick and Judy. Nick squirmed around in his seat, the leather not being the friendliest according to Zootopia’s heat.  
“This is the most difficult case in the world,” Nick said to himself, wringing ebony paws in his lap. He stared out the window of the back seat. Judy was sitting up front, chattering with Finnick.  
Nick was buried in his phone, reviewing news articles, attempting to find any leads. “This is impossible,” he groaned in frustration, tossing his phone at the back of Judy’s seat. Judy flinched at the agitation in the red fox’s naturally smooth tone. She stared at his reflection in the rearview mirror. She wanted more than anything to say something assuring, but came up empty, amethyst eyes blinking owlishly.  
The stress was really getting to Nick. 36 hours left to solve the case, or Bogo would contact Agent Jack Savage of the CIA. Nick grimaced at the thought.  
“Carrots… You wanna add in your two cents?” He whispered, defeat evident in his voice.  
As they finally pulled up to the park entrance, Nick slithered out the van, the scorching sun being an exhausting greeting. “Why, why is it so hot today!” Nick complained, as if the world were purely out to get him.  
As they strolled through the park, they came up to a large oak shading an area of plush grass. Nick was elated.  
“Yes, finally.” He sighed, collapsing onto the cool green. “Oh, my..” Nick rubbed his snout against the grass, rolling around. He never thought he would do that in public, but the intense heat had gotten to him.  
***  
“I’m scared too,” he said, calling in for paramedics. Another dead fox, and no mammal would seem to care. Not for a fox.  
Judy couldn’t stop crying once they returned to the van. She wiped her tears on Nick’s uniform, resting her silver head in his lap.  
“I can’t believe someone would do that. I just. I can’t,” she huffed, looking up at her visibly shaken partner.  
“I’m going to find the mammal who did this,” he reassured the rabbit, delivering a little peck to gray fur.  
Finnick’s ear twitched in eavesdrop of Nick, and he slammed the brakes.  
“You’re WHAT?” Finnick rushed to pull over in the alley he was accustomed to. Unbuckling his seat belt, he jumped from his spot, shuffling across the back of the van. “There is no way I’m letting you take on Victor!” Finnick’s eyes trained on Nick, who was utterly confused.  
“Victor?” Judy murmured, sitting up and gripping Nick’s paw. “Do you know his last name, Finnick?”  
“You knew about this? You know who did this?” Nick cut in, incredulous towards his former partner. All this time, the answer to their case had been sitting beside them, selling pawpsicles, driving them around. “I can’t believe you. You knew this case was stressing me out! What, you don’t think I could handle it? I can. I CAN.” Nick snarled at the now speechless fennec fox, only for Finnick to retaliate with a short statement. “Victor Caniston. I used to work for him before we met. He took everything from me. My Family, my friends. Why you think I have to live in a van now, huh?” Finnick balled his paws. “Did you think, for even a second, that I didn’t want to lose two of my only friends left?!” Finnick was furious. The tension between Nick and Finnick was almost tangible.  
Judy stood between the pair and tried to quell the fighting. “C'mon, you two! That’s enough.” She looked at Nick, her nose twitching anxiously. She didn’t like seeing Nick’s teeth when he was angry. It revived old habits of being weary of foxes. “Please, Nick, calm down. We have a case to solve. I can’t do it without you,” she placed a paw on the red fox’s knee. “Please.”  
Her eyes glistened, bordering on tears until Nick pulled her into a familiar, warm embrace.  
“It’s alright. I’m not going to hurt anyone.” His eyes flashed towards Finnick. “But you are going to tell me where you last saw him..” Nick muttered before tending to his partner. “Carrots, do you trust me?” Nick breathed, pulling away from Judy, emerald eyes locking with hers. Another timeless moment.  
“I trust you,” she whispered, slowly leaning up to meet Nick’s lips with hers. The kiss sent a shiver down the fox’s spine. He tightened his grip on Judy, returning with equal fervor.  
Finnick shook his head, lost in thought as he opened the side door of the van and revealed the descending sun. “Make that 24 hours,” he chuckled bitterly, hopping out of the car and scouring the scene. He started to feel paranoid.  
Victor had returned in pursuit of Finnick, and he would stop at nothing until he found him. Judy and Nick stayed with Finnick the rest of the night in attempt to assure all would be well. There was no such luck.Nick awoke in the middle of the night, sweating and breathing heavily. His paws were clutching his chest in wake of an awful nightmare. The crime scene from earlier had been imprinted in his mind, robbing him of surety.  
He opened the sliding door of Finnick’s van, remembering that Judy and himself had decided to spend the night with the fennec fox.  
“Carrots,” Nick whispered, trying to wake the sleeping bunny. “Carrots, wake up.” He nudged her petite shoulder.  
‘Please,’ he inwardly begged, shivering from stress of the nightmares and sleepless nights. Insomnia was finally getting the best of him.  
The red fox crawled across the van and perched at the threshold of the car, dangling his feet and burying his head in his hands. Nick’s thin shoulders shook briefly, until a dam finally gave way inside of him, and a silent sob escaped. He looked towards the street, blessedly quiet as Zootopia’s late night traffic went by, perpetually unbothered and ignorant to the fox’s burdens.  
“I’m going to lose her..” He whispered to the moon, hopelessly convinced that they’d finally hit an impasse, and Victor, their assailant, would see to it that Nick would be robbed of his happiness. Judy.  
He felt his canines grit just at the prospect. A quiet rustling sounded behind him. Judy was awake, and by the look on her face, she’d had nightmare as well.  
She did a literal hop towards him, nestling against his side and peering up at him. A moment of silence passed before she finally spoke up. “I love you, Nick, and.. I’m not going to let you do this alone. I’ll focus on the case, I’ll focus on us..” She trailed off with a little quiver to her pink nose, falling silent once Nick leaned down and kissed her. The smaller rabbit returned in kind, crawling into his lap and returning it wholeheartedly.  
“Judy,” Nick whispered. Anytime he would say her first name, she’d feel shivers coarse through her. Nick traced her little curves with his claws, and she sighed.  
“..Not here, not now.” Judy breathed, her heart fluttering. Meanwhile, her mind urged otherwise: 'Let him continue.’  
Luckily, the bunny knew better.  
After all, Finnick would’ve most likely woken to the excessive rustling.  
“Then we’ve gotta get some rest.” Nick said at last, snapping Judy out of her reverie.  
“Y-yeah,” the rabbit’s ears drooped, and her violet hues shimmered in threat of tears.  
“You okay?” Nick queried, in hopes he hadn’t said anything that hurt his favorite bunny’s feelings. “Hey, once we finish this one, we can, uh…” He playfully scrunched his orange muzzle.  
“Oho, well, we better get it done soon, then, Slick Nick.” Regret instantly set in at the cheesy joke, and the silver rabbit pressed a paw over her mouth to stifle any more stupidity. “I mean. I didn’t mean it in that way.”  
Nick chuckled. “Just keep tellin’ yourself that, Carrots.”  
Finnick’s snoring sounded at the front of the van, cutting into their intimate little moment. Nick shut the door to the vehicle quietly, crawling back to the pile of blankets nestled in the back of the van. Judy trailed after him, squirming under her boyfriend’s arm as if in routine.  
“Better get that shut eye, then, huh?” He teased, adjusting himself.  
“Like kits,” she quipped, her little cotton puff of a tail happily wiggling. “Sweet dreams, Dumb Fox.”  
“Good night, Sly Bunny..” He enveloped the rabbit in his fuzzy arms and slowly nodded off. Judy leaned into his touch, mirthful little giggles softening as the waves of slumber took over. So long as she had the fox on her side, this was where she’d find her bliss, too.  
***

Finnick woke with a start, heart drumming violently in his small chest. “Nick,” he started, scrambling out from the burrow of blankets he’d made in the passenger side. “You got everythin’ you need for this, right?” The fennec queried sternly. Today was they say they avenged his family.  
Meanwhile, Judy was snapping on her utility belt, feeling for her weapons; dart gun, standard issue and laced with cyanide. First ones used since before Zootopian gun laws were established.  
Nick, on the other paw, polished his weapon with a look of determination glinting in olive eyes.  
“Standard issue. Guess now’s a better time to learn than never,” he turned and stared at the backseat. “Carrots, you alright? You look a little…not you.” Nick unbuckled his seat beat and shuffled into the rear of the van, meeting his partner. “Say, is it because of the gun?” He placed an ebony paw on her thigh, then proceeded to holster his weapon.  
“I just don’t think we should resort to…this.” Judy sighed, trying not to dwell on the weapon so much. “I don’t like violence of this sort. Sure, I’ll tackle someone to the ground for an arrest, but I wouldn’t dream of killing anyone unless it had to be done… What’s the rule about these?” She holstered her smaller pistol and shivered, baby pink nose twitching.  
“Shoot to maim, not to kill,” Nick replied, sliding closer to Judy. “Carrots, if it comes down to that, I’ll take the shot. Okay?” He nodded to reassure his visibly distraught bunny, squeezing petite shoulders.  
Finnick drove like an animal to the abandoned refinery, tense in the driver’s side. He was obviously trying to refrain from having an episode as his friends assembled to meet the attacker.  
“You come back safe, a'ight, Nick? You too, Fuzz.” He flashed the tiniest smile to the small mammals as they exited the vehicle. “See you on the other side..”  
With one last glimpse, the fennec fox pulled the car into reverse and drove off. Once the sound of gravel spinning against tires died off in the distance, Nick released a bated breath.  
“What if it kills him,” Judy’s voice broke the ensuing silence, and she touched a gray mitt to her holster. “The shot, I mean.”  
“Then, and I don’t mean to be harsh, but…I want this guy to feel the pain he’s brought to the families and friends he’s torn apart. So many dead foxes, and all with a life of their own. Families of their own, that’ll have to learn to to live without those mammals.” With that, the red fox sauntered towards the old building, entering quietly with Judy in tow.  
“Nick, I’m not sure I’ll be of much use,” Judy said at last, once checking the coast was clear. There were no lights anywhere, and several crushed bulbs scattered the dirty floor. “I can’t see very well in the dark. Actually, I can’t…see at all!”  
Nicks advantage being night vision made him an obvious leader for storming through the dark building, but he knew if Judy followed in, her skills were rendered useless if she was blind.  
“Stay here. I’m gonna check it out,” he said, decisively turning tail and pushing the shorter rabbit out. Judy flailed her paws toward the fox in attempts to stop, hissing.  
“Wait! We don’t know if he’s in there or not!”  
Without another word, Nick locked her out the building, locking eyes with her through the door’s window. His lips shaped the smallest 'I love you" in fond regard of the bunny who had changed his life. It was his turn to protect her. 

***  
The musty building stunk of dust and dried blood. The air was bitter, disgustingly cold as the red fox expected. Crates littered the area, shaping into a small ring in the center of the warehouse.  
No lights, No electricity. Completely off the grid. Nick drew his weapon and stole a cursory glance of the room. He heard a little shuffling rise from the back of the building.  
“This is the ZPD, come out from where you are.” Nick called, whipping out his flashlight to better assist himself in finding Victor.  
“Mr. Wilde,” a gruff voice pierced the dead silence. “I think we both know that I’m your superior here.”  
The voice drew closer, and a tall, mangy coyote stalked into the center of the room, bathing himself in the the palest light of the warehouse. Nick shuddered, assessing his coyote counterpart with narrowed eyes. A manipulative beast, able to make his enemies turn against themselves. Ultimately, a master of deception.  
Judy couldn’t take the wait. She searched for another entrance into the building and crept in from the back. She was completely lost, guiding herself through the darkness with her adept hearing, getting a feel from the crates surrounding as a path.  
The rancid odor filtering through the warehouse made her dizzy, and her stomach buzzed with unease. It wasn’t blood she had smelled. The little bunny staggered forward to escape the bitter air, only to collapse and break the fall with her head. Judy’s ears rang, folding back against her gray head. She scrambled to her feet, meandering through pitch black.  
“Nick,” She whispered through teary, blurred vision, drawing her gun and shuffling against the wall. “Nick, where are you?”  
Nick confronted Victor. He stood in the center of the room, training his weapon on the coyote.  
“C'mon and shoot me!” Victor pounced forward, closing the extensive gap between them. His big paws grabbed the barrel of Nick’s pistol, sneering. “Somethin’ wrong?” Victor teased, tail wagging in obvious delight as the red fox hardly reacted. He shoved the traumatized fox back, bellowing. “Coward!”  
Hopps was listening to the assailant, guiding herself with raised ears. Her mind felt like alphabet soup, the fall and inhalation of poison leaving her disoriented. Gray fur dampened with warm blood leaking out a little wound along her temple, and she winced at the touch of her paw.  
The chemicals in the crates began leaking out from the undersides.  
“Nick!” Judy cried. “Nick, where are you?”  
“Judy?” The red fox’s ears perk to the familiar voice of his soulmate, and he snaps out of his little daze. “Carrots! Get outta here! Go!”  
Nick quickly turned tailed and dashed toward the dark, halting sharply soon as the coyote before him made the same move.  
“That your little bunny?” Victor smirked, stalking towards the dark, fixating on the small bunny lost in the middle of warehouse. “Come on, Carrots! Come out!”  
Judy was confused, moved towards the voice hesitantly.  
“Nick, is that you?” She winced in pain, her head injury taking its toll as she looked around frantically, tears staining fuzzy gray cheeks.  
“Carrots, follow me.” A voice called to the dark, and she backed against in empty crate, hiccuping a sob. She aimed her weapon towards blackness, throat tight with quelled cries and fear.  
“Take the shot!” The darkness called, but Judy couldn’t bring herself to do it. “Carrots, he’s right in front of you! Take. The. Shot!”  
Against her will, the young bunny impulsively pulls the trigger, popping the dart out into the open. A thud followed subsequently, and the ensuing silence that fell upon the warehouse was deafening.  
“Congratulations,” Victor’s voice pierced the quiet, and the front doors of the building opened as the coyote scurried out.  
The moonlight spilled through the open doors, a meager light bathing over a familiar red fox in the middle of the floor.  
“Nick?” Judy queried in a congested little voice. “NICK!” She cried, breaking into a mad dash towards her partner. “Please, it’s gonna be alright! Nick, stay with me!” Judy begged.  
“W, whoa… Those things are,” Nick coughed. “Pretty strong, huh?”  
Even on the brink of death, the fox still had a sense of humor. She wouldn’t be joked out of the misery in shooting him, though. Judy clutched Nick’s chest, rubbing a gray mitten over his orange head.  
“Please,” she forced a broken laugh. She didn’t know what to do after calling in for backup. Her fox was dying.  
'Because of me,’ she bitterly thought.  
She turned Nick’s muzzle toward hers, gaping into half-lidded, glossy olive eyes. “I love you.” She whispered, kissing her beloved fox.  
Nick smiled weakly, blood dribbling down the corner of his mouth. The cyanide was starting to bleed him inside out. “You have to leave n..now,” he breathed “You won’t be blamed for my death. It was Victor,” he raised an ebony mitt to Judy’s cheek. “I love you, too,” Nick sighed, his voice growing hoarse as his eyes slowly lidded. “Thank you. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me.”  
“Nick, no! No, no, please! Stay with me!”  
“Judy, it’s alright.” The fox whispered, and his paw fell over Judy’s own. A gentle smile graced his cream muzzle as the rise and fall over his little chest slowed. “It doesn’t even hurt anymore.”  
“Nick,” Judy hugged the fox to her small lap. “It’s Carrots. It’s Carrots, Nick, please.”  
He lay still, unresponsive to Judy’s desperate attempts to keep him awake. The rabbit’s heart throbbed violently, pounding in her throat. “Nick, we have to go.” Judy stood, hefting Nick’s body over her own and marching them out the refinery.  
Paramedics arrived on the scene soon after, and the EMTs pulled Nick into a gurney. Judy held fast to the red fox’s paw in the back of the truck heading to Tundratown’s hospital, comfortingly rubbing his own. He was her whole world, and she’d loved him unconditionally. Emerald eyes peered dazedly up at Judy, auburn brows was in silent heed of a kiss. The rabbit did so, minding how cold his own lips were now.  
The red fox who’d kept her steady so long amidst the hustling and bustling life of Zootopia. The fox that’d stolen her heart. After all this time, she had been the one to do him in.  
She broke into tears as the car pulled into the hospital parking lot, chasing Nick’s gurney as the mammals ushered him into the building. Meanwhile, Finnick had been just arriving on the scene after a distraught call from Judy on the way there.  
Only by the time the fox was hastened into a room, his breathing slowed. And stopped.  
Judy rose from the corner of his hospital room, sprinting to his bed and hugging the lifeless predator as surrounded nurses and doctors watched crestfallenly. The bunny refused to let go for several minutes on, sobbing and crying until Finnick had to finally pry her off.  
“Let me say goodbye,” she attempted to squirm from the short fennec’s hold, but he kept his grip like steel. “Let me say goodbye!” The sight was too much for Finnick to witness, he’d known he had to separate her from Nick. “He’s gone, Fuzz!”  
“No! I can’t leave him! Nick!” She flailed out her short arms as the fennec escorted her out the room, and she stole her final glimpse of the orange fox tucked in bed. The hospital lights cast an ironic halo over his ginger form, making him appear so angelic. Judy’s angel.  
“Goodbye!” She cried out on a broken sob as the nurses and doctors put their final efforts into aiding Nick.  
The door closed, and Finnick guided her through the halls of the cold hospital. She folded her arms with an aching heart, her mind running back to the start of the first time she’d seen that face in Jumbeaux’s cafe.  
The face she grew to love. The face of the fox who’d pulled the biggest hustle over her. He had made her fall in love.


End file.
